Tagging machine



Patented July 15, 1941 bertson, Hackettstown, N.

J said Albertson assignor, by mesne assignments, to said Schwerin Application April 7, 1939, Serial No. 266,658

6 Claims.

This invention relates to tagging machines and has for its general object and purpose to provide a high speed power operated machine for accurately and securely applying indicia bearing cards or tags to fabric materials without perforating or otherwise mutilating the material.

It is a more particular object of the invention to provide a machine for the above purpose, in which wire or metallic strip is drawn from a reel, automatically severed into sections of predetermined length, and each section bent upon itself to securely clinch or fasten the tag to the edge of the fabric material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a reciprocating cutter for the metallic strip or' wire and a pair of clinching jaws carried thereby together with an anvil around which the severed strip section is bent and means for automatically retracting said anvil from the path of movement of said jaws.

It is a further object of the invention to pro-' vide motor driven means for operating said cutter and jaws including a clutch, and means actuated in positioning the fabric article and tag whereby the engagement of said clutch is effected.

It is also the purpose of our present invention to provide a machine as above characterized which will be simple and compact in the arrangement of its several elements, capable of manufacture at relatively low cost, and highly eflicient and reliable in practical operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved tagging ma chine and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of its several parts as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings wherein we have disclosed one simple and practical embodiment of our invention:

Fig. l is a side elevation showing a preferred form of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a top planview the supply reel forthel metal strip or wire being omitted,

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation, Fig, 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken onthe line 6-6 of Fig. 4,

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are detail sectional views illustrating successive positions of the reciprocating c1. its-+1) cutter and the bending and clinching jaws for the metal strip, and,

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 6 showing the anvil pin in its retracted position.

Referring in detail 'to the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of our improvedtagging machine includes a suitable base 5 upon which the bearing standard 6 for the metal wire or strip supply reel 1 is rotatably mounted.

Upon one end of the base 5 a longitudinally disposed support 8 is suitably secured. This support is provided in one side face thereof with the guideway 9 for the reciprocating cutter bar II], the face plate I l secured to the support 8 extend ing over the open side of said guideway and retaining the cutter bar therein. At one of its ends the bar In is recessed or bifurcated to provide vertically spaced edges l2 diverging from the concave bearing sockets I3 at the inner ends thereof. The clinching jaws M are positioned in the recessed end of the bar Ill and at one of their ends are rounded as at 15, for engagement with the concave bearing sockets l3. The bar [0 is provided with a longitudinal bore for the pin I6 and the coil spring H which urges the head It" of said pin against the convex end edges of the jaws M to normally retain said jaws in expanded relation as shown in Figsmi and 7 of the drawings. 7 Each of the jaws M at its other-end has a beveled or inclined cam surface l8 for a purpose which will be later explained.

An anvil pin I9 is transversely movable between suitable guide members 20 fixed to the support 8, one end of said pin being normally posireduced diameter as indicated at 2| and is mov able in an opening in the wall of the housing 22 suitably secured to the face plate II and one of the members. 20. A leaf spring 23 is secured at one of its ends to the housing wall andbears at its other end against the flange 24 on the pin l9 to yieldingly resist movement of said pin from its normal position.

Beyond the anvil pin IS a second'face plate 25 is secured to the support 8 over the end of the guideway II. This faceplate and the end of the support 8 are each formed with a tapering throat or recess as indicated at 26, and between the same, at the entrance end of said throat cylindrical jaw closing rods 21 are secured at the upper and lower sides thereof.

Upon the support suitable bearing means 28 is secured for the peripherally grooved guide wheel 29 over which the metal strip or wire is drawn from the reel 1 and. fed. downwardly through the vertical guide passage 39 in the support 8. The end edge 3| of the bar l acts in conjunction with the cutting edge 32 at the lower end of the guideway 30 to cut or shear off a section of the metal strip or wire equivalent in length to the width of the guide channel 9 in which the end of said bar l0 reciprocates.

A pressure roller 33 is mounted in the upper end of a yoke 34, pivotally connected at its lower end as at 35 to the bearing support for the guide Wheel 29, and is urged against the metal strip or wire by the spring 35 to press the latter into close frictional engagement with the of the wheel 29. The member 31 reciprocates with the bar l9 between the face plate H and' the spring 23,

grooved face.

and, after the metal strip section 38 has beenbent around the anvil pin l9, as shown in Fig. 8, acts to repress said spring and withdraw the anvil pin from the path of movement of the jaws M, to the position shown in Fig. 10 of thedrawings. The end of said member 31 is bifurcated as at 39 to straddle the pin l9.

The bar H] and member 31 are connected to a head 49 having a cylindrical extension slidable in the hub 42 of an eccentric strap 4| engaged with eccentric 43 loosely mounted upon the shaft 44 journaled in spaced bearings 45 on the base 5'. A screw 46 in the hub 42 engaged in the slot 41 of the extension on the head 49 limits relative movement between said head and the hub under the action of the shock absorbing spring 48.

The eccentric 43 is provided with clutch member 49 for engagement by the complementary clutch member 59 keyed upon the shaft 44, said clutch members being yieldingly held in driving engagement by the coil spring 5|. A worm gear 52 is fixed to shaft 44 and engaged by the worm 53 driven by the motor 54 or from any other suitable source of power.

To one end of shaft 44 belt wheel 55 is fixed and connected by driving belt 55 with a similar wheel 5| secured upon one end of the shaft 58 of the wheel 29, whereby the metal strip or wire S is positively drawn from the reel 1.

Upon one side of the'support 8 a horizontally disposed lever 59 is pivotally supported at one of its ends in the bracket 69. To the other end of this lever a yoke member 6| engaged with the shiftable clutch member '59 is fixed. In a guide 62 secured to the lever 59 a member 63 is longitudinally slidable, one end of said member being slotted as at 54 to receive the guide pin 66 fixed in spaced ears 66 on the lever 59. This end of the member 63 is further provided with laterally projecting lug 65 to be engaged by the detent 61 on the hub 42 of the'eccentric yoke whereby clutch member 59 is normally held in disengaged position against the action of the spring 5|.

In a suitable guide 68 on the support 8, a rod 69 is movably supported and is connected at one of its ends with the member 63. A coil spring 10 surrounding this rod is attached at one of its ends to the member 63 and its other end .to the lever 59 and normally holds the member 63 in the position shown in Fig. 2.

At its other end the rod '69 is provided with a laterally projecting presser plate 1| which is normally positioned slightly beyond the inner end or base of the throat 26 in the support 8.

From the foregoing description, the construction and manner of operation of the invention will be clearly understood. Assuming that motor 54 has been started, the metal strip S is fed downwardly in advance of the jaws |4 until the end of the strip strikes the lower wall of the guideway 9. The resistance is sufficient to overcome the frictional feeding pressure of the wheel 33 so that further unwinding of the strip from the reel 1 ceases. The fabric article with the tag or card is then positioned in the-throat 25. The tag or card may here be folded over the edge of the article or positioned entirely on one side thereof. The edge of the card as it is moved into the throat 26 bears against the plate 1| and forces rod 69 rearwardly against the action of spring 19, thus shifting the member 63 and disengaging its lug 65 from the detent 61. Spring 5| then acts to engage the clutch members 49 and so that eccentric 43 is rotated. In the initial forward movement of the bar ID, the cutting edges 3| and 32 sever the strip section 38 as shown in Fig. '7. In the continued movement of said bar |0,- the strip section is then bent around the anvil rod I9 and, as the jaws I4 move to the position shown in Fig. 8, member 3'! acts upon the spring 23 to retract the anvil pin l9. In the final forward movement of the bar ID, the spaced parts of the metal strip section are respectively positioned above and below the article and the tag, and as the beveled end faces ll! of the jaws l4 slidingly coact with the rods 21, said jaws are forced towards each other to the closed position as shown in Fig. 9, and the two parts of the metal strip are tightly clinched together upon the card and the fabric article so that the card or tag will thus be securely held in attached relation to the article, without perforating or in any way injuring the fabric of said article.

In the reverse movement of the bar ID, as the ends of the jaws l4 move out of contact with rods 21, they are expanded to open position by the spring pressed pin IS. The tagged article is then removed, thus releasing pressure against the plate 7| so that spring 10 returns the memout of order.

ber 53 to its normal position. In such movement of the member 63 lug 65 engages the detent 61, thereby moving lever 59 to disengage the clutch member 50 from the clutch member 49 so that rotation of the eccentric 43 is interrupted. Of course, it will be understood that as the member 31 moves rearwardly with the bar l0, pressureagainst the spring 23 is released so that the anvil pin I9 is returned to its normal position.

From the above description it will be seen that we have devised an automatic power operated machine for securely tagging garments or other articles and which may be safely used for applying indicia bearing tags to the most delicate fabrics without danger of in any way injuring the material. It will also be seen that such a ma chine, is, capable of very high speed operation, and, in view of the simple andcompact arrangement of the various elementsv is not liable to get It will therefore operate in an efficient and reliable manner with minimum maintenance costs. It will further be appreciated that such a mechanism will operate satisfactorily in the use of either flat metal strip, or straight or crinkled wire as the means fofrifastening tags to the garments.

We have herein referred to a practical mechanical embodiment of our invention which has given satisfactory results in practise, nevertheless it is to be understood'that the essential features of the present disclosure are susceptible of more or less modifications or chang with respect to the form, construction and relative arrange- I ment of the several cooperating elements. Ac-

cordingly, we reserve the privilege of embodying our invention in such other alternative structural forms, as may fairly be comprehended within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a tagging machine, a reciprocating member, a pair of opposed jaws carried by said member, means yieldingly holding said jaws in normal spaced apart relation, a movable anvil normally positioned in the path of movement of said jaws, said jaws in the movement of said member in one direction adapted to engage and bend a metallic fastening element around said anvil, means for retracting said movable anvil, and relatively stationary means thereafmr coacting with each of said jaws in the further movement of said member to move the jaws towards each other and further bend the spaced parts of said fastening element to clinch the same upon an interposed tagged article.

2. In a tagging machine, a reciprocating member, a pair of opposed jaws pivotally mounted at one of their ends upon said member, means yieldingly holding said jaws in normal spaced apart relation, a movable anvil normally disposed across the path of the reciprocating movement of said jaws, said jaws in the movement of said member in one direction adapted to engage and bend a metallic fastening element around said anvil and between said jaws, means connected to and movable with said reciprocating member to retract said anvil, and means thereafter coacting with each of said jaws in the further movement of said member to move the jaws towards each other and clinch the spaced parts of the fastening element upon an interposed tagged article.

3. In a tagging machine, a support having a horizontal guideway, a cutting member recipro cating in said guideway, means for vertically feeding metal strip across said guideway in advance of the cutting member, said member in its movement in one direction severing a section of said strip of predetermined length, a movable anvil normally disposed transversely across said guideway, movable means carried by said cutting member operative in the movement of said member in one direction to bend said metal strip section around said anvil, means for retracting the anvil, and means thereafter coacting with and actuating said bending means on the cutting member in the continued movement thereof to further bend said metal strip section and secure the same in attaching relation to a tagged article.

4. In a tagging machine, a support, having a horizontal guideway, a cutting member reciprocating in said guideway, means for vertically feeding metal strip across said guideway in advance of the cutting member, said member in its movement in one direction severing a section of said strip of predetermined length, a movable anvil normally disposed transversely across said guideway, movable means carried by said cutting member operative in the movement of said member in one direction to bend said metal strip section around said anvil, means for retracting the anvil, means thereafter coacting with and actuating said bending means on the cutting member in the continued movement thereof to further bend said metal strip section and secure the same in attaching relation to a tagged article, and power operated means for actuating said reciprocating member and the strip feeding means.

5. In a tagging machine, a support having a guideway, a member reciprocating in said guideway, an independently mounted transversely movable anvil normally disposed across said guideway in advance of said member, movable means carried by said member operating in the movement of said member in one direction to bend a metal fastening element around said anvil, power operated means to actuate said reciprocating member and to retract said anvil, and additional means coacting with and actuating the bending means in the continued movement of said member after the anvil has been retracted to further bend said fastening element and secure the same'in attached relation to a tagged article.

6. In a tagging machine, a support, a power operating member horizontally movable on said su ort, means for positioning a bendable metallic fastening element on the support, an anvil I rectilinearly movable into and out of the path of movement of said member, means carried by said member and operating upon said fastening element in the movement of said member in one direction to bend said element around said anvil, means connected to and movable with said member for thereafter retracting the anvil, and additional relatively stationary means to coact with the bending means in the continued movement of said member and clinch said fastening element upon a tagged article.

CHARLES A. SCI-IWERIN. ERNEST H. ALBERTSON. 

